Top 6 Credit Collection Challenges and Solutions

Hear from the Credit Overlord herself! Recorded at Levelset’s Construction Credit Summit, you’ll hear how to:

• Be a better team player
• Stand up for yourself and your team
• Take actionable steps to fight against labor shortages
• And more!

If you work in credit or collections and you haven’t attended a Construction Credit Summit, what are you waiting for? It’s a day packed full of invaluable presentations from industry leaders, networking opportunities, and professional growth for credit managers at all stages of their careers. Join our credit professionals community for the latest on upcoming Credit Summits!

Speaker 1 (00:02):
So I was a credit manager for, um, manufacturers, dealers, contractors, subcontractors. There’s pretty much no seat on the bus I haven’t held. And every one of them’s a little bit different. So if you don’t understand the flow of, like, if you’re a manufacturer, if you’re a dealer, whether it’s one step or two step, it, it does make it a little bit harder. So I know we’ve had a little bit of groundwork here on what’s going on in the industry, but this statistic for me was kind of interesting. Think about it. It’s a lot of money. It’s a lot of money out there. And this clicker just so, so, you know, is counterintuitive. The up button is actually, or the down button is actually forward and the up button is actually back. So this is gonna be a fun treat for all of us

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Technology.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
So, yeah, what were we talking about? Technology. All right, so Craig kind of alluded to a level set. Does a really great, um, they’ve been doing it since I think 2019. They had this, this cash payment, uh, cash flow report. And so it’s been really cool to pull stuff out. I go into so little, take a step back. I go into companies now and I get to tell them what they’re doing great and what they’re doing not so great. And we look at their gaps and their pain points. I also, um, spend a lot of time coaching credit managers, a lot of youth, uh, super fun, really enjoy it. But you, you get to go in and kind of see firsthand what some subcontractors, contractors deal. It’s, it’s all over the board. So when I saw these, these statistics, and I’m not gonna read ’em to you cuz you can read it. It’s, it’s kind of a, a little bit shocking. I mean, I, it’s, I went into one insulation contractor and their DSO was 101 days. I, I’m, I think I threw up in a trash can. I mean it, I just am like, hell please it. It was overwhelming. It took us a year to get them down to 52 days and they were like, This is awesome. I’m like, No, this still sucks,

(02:01):
But it’s better than where you were a year ago. And let’s talk about some of the stuff you need to accept writing off. Which, if it’s on there from 2006, we’re not gonna take another run at it. So we are, we’re just done. Sorry, I I’m also gonna tell you, I work really hard to not have the foul mouth that I do. I’m gonna listen, I know a lot of you have it too. I’m gonna try to be good.

(02:29):
I know you can’t be in construction without going what? And then a whole bunch of other stuff comes out. This was my favorite statistic and my circled, here’s what contractors and subcontractors say about their profit margin. I’m really worried about those. Not sure people they don’t know or they’re not sure or they’re under, you know, anybody that’s under say, I don’t know, 10%. It’s like there’s like that little sweet spot of people that we all wanna sell, but we’re all trying to fight for ’em. So anyway, just, just some fun things to think about. What’s keeping you up at night?

(03:10):
Go. So if that doesn’t, if, if those statistics don’t get you, we have all of these other stuff, the economy, interest rates, finance challenges, retention, all of the things that go in there, supply chain, labor, all the things we’ve been talking about. And then you throw in recession, whether you believe we’re in one, starting one looking at one, pretending we’re flirting with one. Every time I listen to an economist, they’re different. They, it’s, it’s, everybody has an opinion. It’s like watching the weather man. And they all get to keep their jobs and they’re always wrong.

Speaker 3 (03:43):
<laugh>.

Speaker 1 (03:46):
So what’s keeping you up at night, Juan? What’s not? And I love when it’s like the, you should calm down. You’re so like angry all the time. Like, am I, do I look angry?

Speaker 3 (04:02):
<laugh>,

Speaker 1 (04:02):
Look at what I look at all day. So let’s talk about the top trends. Sleep depriving reasons. So I wanna get a feel for the room. How many of you are subcontractors? No sub. Okay, couple subcontractors. How many are contractors? Okay, Dealers or distributors. Okay? Manufacturers have not identified as any of the above groups. <laugh> cuz there’s a whole lot of hands that did not go up. So how many of you are actual credit managers? You actually are responsible for the credit function in your company. You do the actual work that’s, Hello, my name is, give me some money. Okay? How many of you manage that? Okay,

Speaker 3 (04:48):
<laugh>,

Speaker 1 (04:49):
You’re just, you’re just gonna identify with every group. All right? So I kind of got a feel for what’s in the room. So everybody’s gonna get a little bit of something out of this. Um, as we’ve mentioned before, I am not good preacher style. If you wanna jump in or you’re like, I don’t agree with that, or I gotta talk, jump in. If you talk too long, don’t worry. I’ll yank the mic back cuz you know, I’m a I’m a look at me kind of girl.

Speaker 3 (05:11):
<laugh>.

Speaker 1 (05:12):
All right, Sleep stopper. Number one, lack of control. So credit managers across the country say, what do they say? My company leadership overrides or limits my decisions, but I am still held accountable on that carpet when someone’s yelling. All right,

(05:34):
Why do you, should you care? Okay, if you’re managing that function, there’s a whole lot of reasons why you should care. It negatively impacts your team. Whether you’re leading it, whether you’re responsible for it or whether you’re on it. At some point you just get beat down and you’re like, I’m done. If you don’t care, why should I? So eventually it will diminish your credibility with the rest of the organization. So there’s a lot of reasons why you should care. Now let’s talk about what you should do about it or what you can do about it. One thing you can do is start out by analyzing the situation you’re in. I didn’t say solve for world peace. I didn’t say do everything at once. People change with small chunks. If I try to come into your organization and I’m like, look, here’s, I analyzed what I’ve got going on back there.

(06:18):
This is what’s happening. Here’s the baseline for a good credit department. Here’s you, here’s what we can do to fix it. Here’s all the things that we can do. And they’re like, Great, let’s get started. I’m like, whoa there cowboy, hang on, let’s get the low hanging fruit. Let’s pick like one or two things because if I try to get everybody changing everything at once, some of your employee’s heads are gonna explode like a glitter bomb. It’s gonna be all over the place. They’re just not capable. Not everybody’s gonna gonna be digging that. So gather the facts, explore and understand the behavior. Why are people doing what they’re doing? Nine times outta 10? You know, you go into a 67 year old company and they’re like, Well we’ve always done it this way. Like, well, I understand that and we’ve always done it. It works really good too.

(07:05):
You shouldn’t try to mess with it. I think we should change. That guy sucks. My stuff’s really good. Like I, I get what you’re saying and I’m not picking at you. I’m sure your stuff’s awesome. So you didn’t even know you got picked on. <laugh> we’re equal opportunity abuser. So look at what processes you have that have been around a while. And you know, in the last session you heard a lot of information about how you can automate things. That’s a big thing. I, I read somewhere, and I’m trying to remember the article, but the, the digital era that we’re in is the biggest impact on our economy and on our lifestyles since the industrial age. And I believe that’s true. I’m like, God, that just clarified so much stuff for me. But when I look at some of this, have to ask, what are my processes?

(07:52):
Is it a training issue? Then decide on an action plan and you gotta step it out. Especially if you’re the one going to say you gotta report to the CFO or the president or the owner, whoever, whoever’s you know, running the ship. If you just go, Hey, this sucks and we gotta make some changes, he’s gonna go, Okay, okay, what else you got? Cuz that statement, I, you’re looking for me to solve your problem. Why do I need you? So go with a plan, work it out, figure out what’s gonna, what do I need to do? What do, what are the steps? What are the costs? Break it down for people. I can spoonfeed you a solution. You’re super happy with it. Or maybe no super happy. Maybe an exaggeration cuz I’m gonna ask you for money too. Then you’re gonna move forward with the approved plan. I gotta get my SLTs, I gotta get my senior leadership on board. I gotta get them thinking, hey, this is a good idea, this is why we’re doing this. And then, you know, rinse and repeat is needed. Go back and, and let’s, let’s get the next low hanging fruit.

(08:57):
Sleep stopper number two, God does this sound familiar Technology or lack thereof. The construction industry is the slowest group of people to embrace technology. Now here’s what’s really funny and, and I’m looking at all of you people that have the purse strings in your company. You all will spend an ungodly amount of money on a CRM that your sales people will not use. It’s like, I didn’t log it in. That’s really hard to use. Yeah, it’s really tough pulling up that customer and putting a note in. But a credit manager will use it. I’ll use it all day. I’ll log it in for account review dates. I’ll log it in for what their credit scores were. Um, customer notes. I will use that money. Let’s give it to people who will use it. However, here’s what you hear. I can’t get funding. Okay, let’s change the narrative. Why should we care? All of the reasons we just talked about. Managing data for the credit team is a nightmare. Most e r p systems, were not set up to account for the kind of stuff we want to, we wanna grab hold of. I wanna be able to have account reviews and know the dates that I did them so I can run a report.

(10:14):
So what do you do about it? Assess your, again, we’re back to you. Assess your presentation style. Also known as how are you asking? You know, I mentioned dude, gimme some money. Okay, Sometimes that actually works cuz you just beat ’em down cuz you show up every day at their door and say the same thing. But what’s your approach? What’s your demeanor? What information are you bringing? How are you approaching the leaders that hold your purse strings? And that’s something I want you to think about. How am accountants are weirdos? I can say that cuz I’m married to an accountant. They think different CFOs. Any CFOs in here?

(10:53):
Okay, we can bash on them all day long. <laugh>, they’re a different breed. People go into accounting for a reason. They like numbers. They’re not so cool with people. They like numbers, Numbers don’t mess with you. They, they don’t lie. I can make ’em say what I want, but they’re numbers. So you have to talk to the people that you are getting money from in a way they can understand. Oh, he was just saying that most people don’t understand what credit managers do. They think all you do is dial for dollars. It’s like, God, you know, your job sucks. Yeah, well some days yeah, but not every day. However I can make or break your company. I have the power seat in this company cuz it’s cash flow. So if there’s no flowing in, guess what you can’t do? You can’t spend it on stupid stuff like buying $300 bottles of wine for your customers and you could have gave me $300 to buy credit reports. So just, not that I’m bitter, but just, I’m just saying.

(11:51):
So you’ve gotta build an objective case and that’s, that’s one of the big things. Build an objective case of why. And that’s I think what your point was. Nobody really under, it’s, it’s a squishy job. You don’t really get it. So most people don’t. So when you explain to them, although my kids think all I do is get on a plane, fly around, eat a lot and drink Yeah. And yell at people occasionally. And I’m like, well I can do that at home with you guys. So, but you’ve gotta make it relevant to the team, to the company. And you’ve, again, gotta speak in their language and then you, you gotta give them choices. Look, here’s the whole enchilada I want, I wanna be able to automate, I wanna be able to do this. I I wanna be able to do all the fun things we just talked about. However, I’m willing to start with a payment portal with no cash application. We can add that later, but why wouldn’t we do it now? I just, I you don’t know. You seem kind of stressed out. Well, okay, well let’s do it. Before you know it, hey, here’s my overarching plan, but here’s how I’m gonna chunk it out and feed it to you in little bite size bits cuz that sounds more palatable.

(12:56):
So sleep stopper number three, collaboration between credit and every other human being in your organization. So credit managers across the country, say my sales team treats me like the enemy sales goes behind my back. You know, at one time I am, I actually asked our president, should I just install signs on my back? You know, like where to go and slow down and get off the grass on my back because everybody walks across me to get to you and you let ’em. So you might as well just fire me out cuz I’m useless to you. You know? And then I’m tired of being called the sales prevention department. Honey, if you wanna see no sales go out the door, I can make that happen. If you think your life sucks now, oh, it can get so much worse. However, I wouldn’t do that because I’m a capitalist in a for-profit corporation.

(13:46):
Doesn’t mean I don’t have fantasies, <laugh>. I know you all do too. So why should you care? Well, it’s a, it’s a growth killer. If I’m against you and everybody else in the company, you know, it’s, it’s not gonna make me wanna work with you very hard. Um, it keeps us from focusing on a common goal. And I’m sorry, I should have said we’ll have this as a PDF for you just so you don’t have to, to take a bunch of pictures. I always intend I’m gonna use those pictures when I get home and then I get, you know, stuck on TikTok watching a cat, you know, ring a bell and before you know it, I’m done for three hours. Um, lack of common technology limits, business information sharing. So, you know, my dream is to have a CRM that also has credit capabilities in it.

(14:32):
I don’t know what, So where are my software people? There you are dead in front of me. Can you make my life? Like, can you, can you like bliss me out over here and, and build that? All right, you got me. Thanks girl. And then making sure your goals and initiatives are aligned. If suddenly someone’s like, I’m, I’m getting like I got 50 credit apps this week, I don’t know what’s going on. Oh, we had an initiative in the southeast, we’re gonna, we’re trying to like get all of our, um, yeah, we’re going after mid-level companies. It’s like, nah, you’re sitting in the Lowe’s parking lot getting everybody going in for wood and now I got 50 credit apps from useless guys. But hey, our goals are aligned. You’re trying to kill me and I’m thinking of burying you in the yard. Understand the other team’s goals. So spend some time walking around your company just, Hey, what’s marketing doing? What’s sales doing? I’ve never for the record, been invited to a sales meeting and yet I go to all of them.

(15:29):
First of all, nobody has the waves to ask me to leave cuz they’re like, what is she doing here, <laugh>? And you know, the first couple times they’re a little dicey, but then after a while you become part of the furniture with them and you become part of the conversation. I wanna know what’s going on and I want you to know what’s going on. So we are collaborating and moving forward, um, we, I’m gonna be able to align where we can in a really long career. I’ve stepped in a lot of piles of, of stuff and I’ve had a lot of opportunities to go. Mm, that was not my finest credit manager moment. That was not my finest leadership moment. But you learn and you hope you get better and you want others to learn and get better. So, you know, you, you share your pitfalls.

(16:11):
Um, encourage open feedback. Not always cool. I showed up, um, one day and made the comment to my husband. I said, I am so laid back and easy going. He goes, Who, who told you that <laugh>? I said, Well, everybody thinks that. He’s like, No, nobody, nobody thinks that honey. So I asked both my kids, Hey, I’m laid back and easy going, right? And they’re both like, uh, no. So I went to work, I asked my team, Hey, I’m laid back and easy going, right? And by now I’m starting to feel a certain kind of way. And they busted out laughing. They’re like, you’re a lot of things. And we’re not saying it’s all bad, but laid back and easy going is not you. It, I’m not gonna lie, it hurt because how I view myself versus how others viewed me very different. Didn’t mean it was, it was totally negative.

(17:02):
But I, I had to come to the resolution that I am not laid back and easy going, but I’m glad that, okay, maybe not my family, but I’m glad that my work life people felt like they could give me that open feedback or Hey, I can’t carry $30 million all by myself and 800 customers. You’re killing me and we can sit down and resolve it. So you’ve gotta be open that and then no retaliation. So if anyone’s ever worked for that person that they’re like, Oh no, tell me anything you want, it’s like, well you kind of suck. Oh really? You have no idea? That’s the kind of stuff I’m talking about. So we would open it up with something we, on several different teams I manage, we opened up what we called a challenge session. We would actually say it, Okay. And I’m wearing glasses and I’m still struggling Jack. So it’s like, Jack, I don’t agree with what I’m gonna institute a challenge session. And that kind of framed the conversation to where it didn’t feel so much like an attack because let’s face it, nobody does classes on good communication. You, you kind of just either have to feel your way out or just go, Oh I gotta, I gotta be less sensitive.

(18:13):
So sleep stopper number four, oh my god, lack of people. We have beat this one to death today, haven’t we? I mean we’re all kind of like lack of people. So credit managers across the country, I get a really fun job of getting to spend time going from coast to coast and everywhere in between talking to credit teams of all levels. Sometimes team of one, sometimes you know, team of 50 and finding qualified people. We all know that’s a a just like a needle in a haystack. Finding anyone for credit, you know, tell someone you’re gonna do credit and construction. They’re like, oh, hard pass, hard pass. Getting funding and then finding out, hey, what I have to pay people now versus what my people currently make. I’m now hiring people at higher than what my seasoned people on my team make. And God forbid they find out. And you know what? You can’t keep that stuff quiet cuz the minute you say don’t tell anybody, everybody knows. Everybody knows. So, you know, my team and my team can’t keep up with the workload. So you’re beating them to death and you’re burning ’em out.

(19:19):
I’m actually doing this clicker. Okay, the microphone not so much, but the clicker pretty good. So why should you care? Well it leaves you vulnerable when a team member retires or leaves, um, low wages limit your availability pool. Nobody wants to work. It’s like, look, I can make at McDonald’s more than what you’re gonna pay me. And the expectation is just dump, dump, dump, shake, shake, shake. Do you want, you know, a coke with that? I can be the fry girl at McDonald’s and kill it for what I’m making for you. Um, waiting until it’s critical to hire creates training issues. I can’t stay out from underwater if I’ve got to be training somebody as well. Now I’m getting further behind. So when you’re sitting there already in that little space, it’s really uncomfortable overloading employees and then yeah, impedes the ability, uh, the ability to manage your ar. So what to do about it? First of all, get ahold of your HR people. I know the first thing they’re gonna say is, Well, we’re on a hiring freeze or I can’t give you any money or there’s no budget in it for you. Okay, I hear you. Okay,

(20:22):
So now I’m gonna come with a plan cuz now I gotta show you in, in numbers and and a com uh, communication style that I can come out with that whoever’s your boss and you know, HR lady or man that I can get them to approve this. So I gotta come with numbers. Look, here’s how many credit apps we’re going. We went from 48 million a year on i r to now we’re at a hundred hundred million. I’ve got this many customers, I’ve got, this is our workload. So I can do all of this work with what we have, but what do you prioritize? What do you prioritize as the thing we need to do? And I’ll focus on that and I’ll put the team on that. But this stuff is gonna be in the important column, not the critical column. So this’ll get done whenever and this’ll get done now and that usually helps reframe it again, it’s coming at them with a different type, um, of approach. So again, I kind of go through all of these steps and I’m not gonna read them all to you cuz you all can read just fine.

(21:30):
I like to present the alternatives for them. Okay, we can do this, but here’s what’s gonna happen. Here’s what’s not happening. We’re not doing reviews. Well, you gotta get it all done. What do you prefer? Sleep stopper. Number five, lack of proactive accounts receivable processes, which leads us back to technology and people. So my company won’t even consider a mechanics lean program. I don’t know how many lumber yards and contractors I hear that from. It’s like, we don’t use those. Everyone will be so offended. Seriously, it is 20, 22 people, they already know about it. And if you survived the great recession, you should be rocking a program. For those of you that did not get that joy and the subsequent ones that came before it, which I got to live through all of those, remember those, Craig, those were very fun. Leans are no big deal. Now part of it is you’re used to having the conversations with people about financial statements, liens, some people are very sensitive about money. I’m not. You want my money and the com If I work for the company, this is my money, then let’s have a conversation about it. I gotta know you better. So let’s get together on this. Um, we won’t push for personal guarantees, we won’t pay for credit reports. I’m still rocking bank and trade. Now I mentioned this morning, it’s not that I don’t like bank and trade. First of all, good luck on banks and I’m not gonna, if I’m gonna pay $35 for something at a bank, why wouldn’t I just buy a report that has all the banking information in it

(23:07):
And then my leadership won’t support holding customers to their credit lines. Um, the FOB accounts, everybody knows what that is. All right, The PIA accounts, everybody knows them. So those are the people that are our challenges. So why should you care? All of these same reasons. Being reactive doesn’t move the needle. Becoming proactive requires process changes. It requires work, it requires somebody driving accountability. You’re changing a credit culture. If you are moving the needle and you are trying to make a difference, you are going to be changing the culture of credit in your company. And if your company’s been around more than about oh five years, you have a culture, you may not like it, you may not even know what it is. However, when you start making changes to that, you’ll know because somebody will start barking and whining and complaining. You have to keep moving it forward. Being proactive requires somebody to hold the needle and move it forward. And that person is who? Okay, you guys, I know we’re, we’re like not to booze, but we’re past coffee. So this, you know, I can talk all day, so let’s go <laugh>. It’s like, yeah, it it’s you if you wanna change the culture, Got it. If you wanna change the culture, you’ve gotta drive it. And it sucks and it’s exhausting,

(24:36):
But it’s necessary. You just gotta enlist others with it. So what to do about it? Set goals, realistic and stretch. How am I going to, again, low hanging fruit. What can I change now? Who can I enlist? And if your leadership isn’t on board, you are fighting a battle that you probably won’t win. And I know I I don’t wanna sound like Pollyanna up here and it’s like if you do these five steps, your life’s gonna be awesome. It it, it might not. It depends on what you’re working with. If you’re working with a company that’s like, Nope, we’re totally good where we are, it’s like, okay then these are the results we’re gonna deal with and these are the people we’re gonna have. I’m not saying give up, but you have to start shoving that back at people. And sometimes a little shove, you know, you gotta shove a little harder than other times. So you’ve gotta plan ahead. You’ve gotta have timelines, resources, and you’ve gotta take the action steps.

(25:30):
Sleep stopper. Number six, the team. We’re back to people again. Um, who do I have, um, on my team to take over my role? What are my chances for advancement? Well, you’re so good at your job. If we move you then you know, who will we have there? It’s like, great. So what you’re telling me is I’m so good at my job. I’m, I’m, this is, this is my life forever. I’m never gonna change. I’m never gonna move anything. Um, how can I attract and retain talent if I have no incentives or opportunities? And then, um, how can I grow my team skills when I don’t have any time to invest in them? So a lot of these things we’ve talked about today in depth. So again, we’re back to why should you, why should you care? Well, you guys can read all of that.

(26:16):
Somebody leaves, all of the historical knowledge goes with them. It’s like I, I love when I walk into a lumber yard and the guy goes, We got this great gal. She’s been here for 40 years, She does everything. She’s about to retire though you should be afraid, but you’re not. You’re like so proud. She’s so good. I’m like, okay, that’s great. But when she leaves, now what? There’s not a note in the system anywhere. I, and I don’t even think there’s a notebook with something written down. So again, somebody leaves, that’s your, you’re out of that. And if you don’t take care of your team members, I think, um, I think we talked about that in the last session. Somebody else is gonna, I get three to four calls a week going. Thea, do you know anybody? Do you know anybody looking for, I don’t even care where they live.

(26:56):
I don’t care. They can be anywhere. I’ll let ’em stay there. I just need, I just need somebody that knows how to work a computer and can make a phone call. It’s like, okay, that’s setting the bar pretty high. Sure. So yeah, it’s like, well what are you paying? What are the benefits? Let’s hook you up with some, If you don’t take care of ’em, someone else is going to. So what can we do about it? We’ll start where you live, recognize and show appreciation for your team. We just talked about what employers think you want versus what your actual employees want. And most of the time they want the same things you do. I wanna be heard, we did one thing where it’s, hey, let’s have lunch once a month. We set a lunch up with the boss, the president of the company and we’d have, you know, maybe four or five people we’d bring in lunch and they’d have lunch with the boss and they’d get to have a conversation.

(27:44):
You would’ve thought I gave them an extra $2,000 a month because they were so excited to get to know who they worked for. Whether it was a, a company of 25 people or a company of two hundred and fifty, twenty five hundred people. It was, it was amazing how much something that small and what seemingly insignificant. Cuz he’s like, really? They wanna eat lunch with me? I’m like, well I talk to you all the time. I know you’re not as fascinating as they think you are, but they seem to think it would be a cool thing. So let’s do this. It’s really, you know, it, it matters. Um, things that you can offer. I love remote work and if you set it up right, I don’t need to see you. Half the time I see people at work, it’s like I know that person’s been here eight hours, they’ve done about eight minutes of work today.

(28:28):
Cuz I’ve never seen anyone hug the coffee pot that much. Walk around and ask how everybody else is doing. Take 15 smoke breaks. I’m like, Jesus, did you warm that the fabric on your chair’s never gonna wear out cuz your ass is never in it. I’m just saying. So again, I just need to set up accountability. I can tell what’s going on with you, with your ar with your account reviews. I just set up some measurables. It’s super easy. Just takes a little effort and as the leader of that team, you have to be the one engaging with them. I can’t wait for someone to call me and go, Tia, I gotta issue. It’s like, I’m not gonna bug you cuz I don’t wanna micromanage you, but I’m gonna touch you every now and again in a non-sexual kind of way. <laugh>, I just clarify that one for a minute.

(29:13):
It’s like you’re just, you’re not gonna go there. So, you know, we created some of the different things we’ve done is, you know, create your own certificates. Um, we bought some little cheap things from little statues from Oriental Trading Company. They were like a dollar 50, they’re just cheap as can be. And you put a little sticker on ’em, you know, that you printed and you know, people loved that. You know, we had big word Barbie where we dressed up little Barbie in her little pink suit. And if you used a, a big word that nobody usually hears, you know, or or a financial word of the day,

(29:46):
You get Barbie. It was stupid. Yeah, but it, we had a good time with it. So it, it can be any goofy thing you want. Um, your job for your team, if you’re in charge of that team or that department is to be a shameless self promoter of your team. I have, I manage lots of teams now, but when I worked with a specific company under, under that banner, you know, that was, that was partly my full-time job. Wasn’t really credit managing. It was making sure the people underneath me had everything they needed to do their job and that everybody knew how amazing they were. And if somebody had an issue, come talk to me about it. We’re not gonna go kill ’em. We’re not gonna, you know, take ’em out back and you know, put ’em on the rack. Let, let’s find out what’s going on. There’s always another side to the story. I give ’em out to take a little heartbeat, check of the room. Anybody have anything to say? Cuz I talk fast and I get in my own head and a rabbit hole and then we’re just all going down it together. So everybody good? Wanna ask, share? No. Okay.

Speaker 3 (30:51):
Tickets to hand out. Good.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
Okay, well we’re gonna rock and roll cuz they think we’re down to some final minutes. So why should you care overall about these topics? Because it all directly impacts cash flow, which equals you. I might have mentioned before, I’m a capitalist. I am a for-profit corporation no matter who I’ve worked for or work with, I am for-profit. I take it very personally. If somebody doesn’t pay me,

(31:21):
It’s not, you didn’t shaft the company. Oh no sweetie, you shafted me and I’m coming for you and see I I like this group right here cuz you’re like, you have those aggressive faces like, oh yeah, again, there it’s, it’s a cash flow issue. If there’s no money coming in, there’s no money for us to pay bills. Four ohk. We’ve had to pay our, we’ve had to pay our vendors if we wanna discount, we wanna be able to pay them in a discounted time. People wanna be paid weekly so they don’t wanna hear it. Look so and so didn’t is gonna be paying us and they didn’t. Yeah, it’s another 60 days. So you hang out on that, they’re like, no, I’m gonna go to the lumber yard down the street cuz he’s paying weekly. So it, it’s a flow thing. If without the cash coming in, there’s no flow and it’s gotta be timed appropriately. So if there’s nothing else you take away from this other than, damn, she talks a lot and, and I, and, and look how good she did. Only swearing like half a dozen times

(32:21):
St when you get back home, I know everybody’s busy and your email’s blowing up and you’re thinking, I just, I, you know, that was really fun. It was a fun day. But you know, now I’m, I’m back. If you take away nothing else, go back and start a conversation. Start somewhere. Start talking about how can we move forward, Listen to what other people are saying. And if you’re getting the, the feedback of no man, I, there’s no cash for that. It’s like, look, I know right now we’re kind of balling, we’re making bank right now cuz everybody knows that. Everybody knows that supply houses are making bank. That may or may not be true, but that’s the perception. I need some money. I’m like a teenager. I need money, but I gotta true it up for you. So start the conversation, listen, discuss it and then keep moving it forward. Don’t give up. Don’t give up and walk away and just go, God, these people are such assholes. I’m never gonna make a difference. They’re never gonna listen. That guy needs to get fired. Dave. Sorry Dave, you’re brilliant. I think you said it best. Get in there, tell people what you do. Walk it out for ’em. Lori. He needs tickets. I got right here. All right. And he needs lots of tickets right there. Hand up there. There you go. Dave’s really proud.

(33:40):
So don’t give up. Go back, talk about it. Keep pushing, keep advocating for your team, advocate for yourself. Cause you guys ask for money all day, all day. You ask for money, you ask for financial statements. You can’t ask for money from your own company. And that’s the end of our presentation today.